diff --git a/lib/sync.js b/lib/sync.js
index 545197b2d..ec8a9089e 100644
--- a/lib/sync.js
+++ b/lib/sync.js
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ SyncApi.prototype.syncLeftRooms = function() {
 
     var localTimeoutMs = this.opts.pollTimeout + BUFFER_PERIOD_MS;
     var qps = {
-        timeout: 1 // don't want to block since this is a single isolated req
+        timeout: 0 // don't want to block since this is a single isolated req
     };
 
     return this._getOrCreateFilter(
@@ -334,8 +334,8 @@ SyncApi.prototype._sync = function(syncOptions, attempt) {
     if (attempt > 1) {
         // we think the connection is dead. If it comes back up, we won't know
         // about it till /sync returns. If the timeout= is high, this could
-        // be a long time. Set it to 1 when doing retries.
-        qps.timeout = 1;
+        // be a long time. Set it to 0 when doing retries.
+        qps.timeout = 0;
     }
 
     client._http.authedRequestWithPrefix(